of the World Trade Organization as contrary to the WTO Agreement, but the challenge was rejected. In their report the WTO has ruled (paras. 7.38-7.39) that taking any such actions against other WTO member countries without first securing approval under the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes is, itself, a violation of the WTO Agreement. External links A list of international investigations initiated by USTR or by US corporations or trade associations between 1974 and 1998, using the GATT and WTO Agreements, is available from the USTR site. The U.S. Trade Representative annually performs a Special 301 Report, to encourage and maintain intellectual property rights (IPR) in many nations. These countries are identified from a wide range of concerns, such as troubling "indigenous innovation" policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China, the continuing challenges of copyright piracy over the Internet in countries such as Canada, Italy, and Russia, and other ongoing, systemic IPR enforcement issues presented in many trading partners around the world. The counterpart in the European Union is Regulation (EU) No 654/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 concerning the exercise of the Union's rights for the application and enforcement of international trade rules and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 laying down Community procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Community's rights under international trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. References United States federal trade legislation